1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement for imposing pressure on cleaning media and/or lubricants which are contained as maintenance media in the movable components of medical, particularly dental handpieces, wherein the maintenance medium is adapted to be placed under pressure by a pressure drive acting through an outlet opening of a housing which contains a motion drive for the movable handpiece components, the last mentioned being brought into connection with the outlet opening through an inlet opening in the handpiece. During this pressurization of the maintenance medium, the movable components of the handpiece are placeable into movement through the motion drive of the housing in such a manner, whereby engaging means of the motion drive which are accessible through the outlet opening of the housing can be brought into engagement with cooperating engaging means of the movable components of the handpiece which are accessible through the inlet opening.
The maintenance medium can be constituted of a liquid cleaning medium and/or lubricant, for example oil, if required admixed with a solvent and/or a preferably gaseous drive medium. For example, there can be employed a maintenance medium pursuant to German Laid-open patent application No. 29 16 552. After the passage of the maintenance medium through the handpiece, through the intermediary of the pressure drive or, in essence, by means of the drive medium or through compressed air, there is carried out a drying of the handpiece so that, for instance, the solvent medium will evaporate and be blown out by the pressure drive from the handpiece while the oil components remain within the handpiece. The motion drive prior thereto hereby effects or intensifies an effective moistening with maintenance medium of the movable handpiece components.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
An arrangement of the above mentioned type has become known from the brochure "Turboclean" issued by the firm Scania Dental AB. In this known arrangement, only handpieces of one and the same handpiece type, in essence, with completely identical cooperating engaging means correlated with the engaging means of the motion drive, can always be attached on the outlet opening of the housing and and maintained in the described manner. Handpieces or handpiece components which include different cooperating engaging means, in particular attachment heads which are attachable on the handpiece gripping sleeve, the attachment heads in a condition separated from the handpiece gripping sleeve, accordingly cannot be attached on the outlet opening of the housing while maintaining movement of their movable components. In the attached condition, the attachment heads or their movable components, are only inadequately or not at all supplied with the maintenance medium, since the maintenance medium which is introduced into the handpiece at the end remote from the work tool, as viewed in its flow direction, will already deposit itself in the handpiece gripping sleeve or the movable portions thereof ahead of the attachment head, and is already used up prior to reaching the attachment head.